Capello tells players who miss friendlies their Word Cup places at risk
Darren Bent is in the squad for today's friendly match against Germany in Berlin. His last England appearance was the 2-3 Euro 2008 qualifying defeat by Croatia. -- PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
LONDON: England coach Fabio Capello has warned players who miss friendlies that their World Cup places are at stake.
He is determined to act, after Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard on Monday pulled out of today's friendly against Germany in Berlin because of a rib injury.
Lampard is one of seven first-choice players who have pulled out.
Capello is now left with just four first-choice players, and is angry after his preparations for the high-profile football match became farcical.
'If someone doesn't want to come and play for England, it means they obviously don't love the shirt enough,' he was quoted as saying by The Mirror.
Former England coaches Sven-Goran Eriksson and Steve McClaren both had tenures that were disrupted by club-versus-country disputes, but Capello is set to take a much harder line.
The Italian ordered Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard to report for an inspection by the Football Association's medical staff at the team hotel in Hertfordshire on Monday, despite the club insisting that the player had a torn groin muscle.
Capello was irked by Liverpool's announcement on Sunday that their captain would miss the match, having suffered the injury during their 2-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers 24 hours earlier.
The FA confirmed Liverpool's diagnosis, leaving Gerrard to make the three-hour journey back to Merseyside.
The incident left Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez fuming over a 'pointless exercise'.
Capello was upset when Gerrard was ruled out of the opening World Cup qualifying matches against Andorra and Croatia in September, believing that Liverpool timed his groin operation to serve their interests at the expense of those of his country.
Benitez felt on this occasion that he had handled the matter correctly, with messages conveyed to Capello via his medical staff before a club statement was issued on Sunday afternoon.
The other notable absentees are Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Wayne Rooney and Emile Heskey, along with David Beckham, who is considered to lack match fitness.
Which means that, of the first-choice starting line-up, only David James, Gareth Barry, Theo Walcott and John Terry are available to play.
